A marine school floated to close labor force gulf

Over the last five years, Miami’s maritime industry has felt a significant labor shortage that has yet to ease. At least part of the solution may come from the classroom.

In 2020, Miami Today first reported on the issue, which saw high demand for skilled labor in the marine service industry, an issue affecting all industries during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Five years later, however, the gap between supply and demand for skilled marine workers has yet to close. Horacio Stuart Aguirre, chairman of the Miami River Commission, states that the ongoing shortage is the result of several factors, most notably the increasing technological standards of boats, the high cost of skilled labor, and the lack of awareness and accessible training for the marine service industry.

“A long, long time ago, the marine industry was not so complicated as it is today, and along the way technology crept into the marine industry, like it did to kitchen appliances, cars and whatnot, and the repair and maintenance and upkeep of a boat has become very technical, not like the old days where a hammer and a screwdriver in your pocket sufficed, and simple skills today only work on a wooden canoe,” Mr. Aguirre said. “They don’t work on any of the pleasure craft that you see on the river.”

According to Mr. Aguirre, the skills to maintain a modern boat include a specialized focus on computer engineering, mathematics, physics and other subjects.

“The boat of today is a technological wonder. What makes the boater happy to have his boat is all the design and technology that goes into the product today,” he said.

Though the pandemic exacerbated the labor issue, Mr. Aguirre attests that it’s an issue that’s been building for over 10 years. He cited increased competition along the East Coast, an undereducated workforce, and high costs for labor and training, all of which make the situation more difficult.

“At one time in South Florida, we owned the recreational boating industry, along with Fort Lauderdale,” he said. “It never was predominant further north, and today it goes all the way up the East Coast and the West Coast, and a lot of it was because they were finding superbly well-trained marine tradespeople up along the coast.”

Anil Akgun, chief financial officer of Miami’s oldest shipyard, RMK Merrill-Stevens, cited similar concerns.

“The Fort Lauderdale area is becoming a very competitive area, because most of the boat manufacturers’ offices and the brokers’ offices, most of the workforce is looking at that area,” Mr. Akgun said.

“The issue is also the workforce, trying to go to different areas,” he said. “I think the important thing is the new generation – what they will do, what they can find as an option, because most of the employees in this sector are old-school, so I think it’s very critical, especially for marine building and marine repair, to have technical schools giving marine-related classes.”

“We need to be able to see if there are people who have experience here related to that education- marine technologies, or naval engineers, because throughout the whole USA, there is a scarcity of shipbuilding knowledge and shipbuilding experience,” Mr. Akgun said. “On the other hand, people on the labor side are looking in more competitive areas in other sectors for the wages.”

Currently, the River Commission is focused on helping resolve the issue through education. The commission is currently in talks with Miami-Dade County Public Schools to establish a vocational training program for the marine industry similar to the program at George T. Baker Aviation Technical College.

School board member Danny Espino has been heavily involved in these discussions with the River Commission, working on not only expanding access to these programs but on working against the stigma of manual trades that he says is discouraging students from entering the field.

“I think for too long society has convinced parents and students that a path to college is the only realistic opportunity to advance in our world today, while at the same time, trades are getting this negative stigma,” said Mr. Espino.

An advocate for career and technical education (CTE), Mr. Espino has been pushing for the development of this program and others like it during his three years on the school board.

“It’s critical that we continue to advance CTE as early as we possibly can to let kids know these fields exist and here’s how you can get involved,” he said.

Mr. Espino said he reached out to the River Commission to propose a naval engineering program, hoping to capitalize on the significant maritime industry in a coastal city such as Miami.

Currently, the county’s only option is the marine services program at Lindsay Hopkins Technical College, which provides students with 1,350 hours of experience. Mr. Espino said the board is working to develop apprenticeship programs for technical instruction and training in development, which would account for roughly 6,000 to 7,500 hours of experience, though he says the program, and access to it, is “limited” and “only the tip of the iceberg.”

In addition to working on allocating funding and resources, Mr. Espino says the greatest challenge is raising public awareness and fighting public perception regarding work in the marine trades.

“I think that our challenge is working against decades of negative stigma of getting your hands and your boots dirty, and letting people know this is what the industry is asking for, this is what the job is like, here’s how we can help you do that and know that if you come through Miami-Dade County Public Schools, you’re going to do that a fraction of the cost,” said Mr. Espino.

Currently, the River Commission’s focus on resolving the issue is on finding partners and funding for this project in addition to the public schools, as well as assessing the current needs of Miami’s maritime industry.

“We have a great industry and we need it to flourish, we need it to grow, we need it to take back the preeminent position it once had,” said Mr. Aguirre, “and to do that we need to create the schooling that these trades require.”

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